Skisnowboard.com's roots go back to the late '70s when Charlie Leocha published his first North American destination-based ski guide. The '80s followed with publication of other guides including Ski Snowboard America & Canada and the Ski Snowboard Europe Guide.

The simple goal of the guides is to inform, entertain and inspire our readers to have a better recreation experience and skisnowboard.com (also known as resortspace.com) now offers this information across the Internet.

We describe the flavor, the feel, the personality of each resort. Deciding where you want to spend your vacation is more than just an equation of condo, lifts and vertical. The warmth of the resort, friendliness of its people and demands of its slopes are the memories you'll savor long after the snow has melted.

Our team of award-winning journalists and editors provide trusted, accurate and complete data and news on snow destination resorts in North America and Europe. Pictured above are members of Ski Snowboard America & Canada's (SkiSnowboard.com) award-winning staff at Solitude, Utah: (left to right) Roger Lohr, Hilary Nangle, Andy Bill, Karen Cummings, Charlie Leocha, Lynn Rosen, Peggy McKay Shinn, Chris Elliott and Mitch Kaplan.

Strong Roots in the Snow Industry

Charles Leocha—Masterful Leader
Charlie has been involved in publishing since 1977. He founded a leisure-time magazine for the U.S. military in Europe that is still in circulation. Charlie started World Leisure, which has 14 titles in circulation including the top-selling ski guidebook pair in America—Ski Snowboard America & Canada (formerly Skiing America) and Ski Europe. He contributes to AOL, Travellady and The Ticked-Off Tourist. He is the author of more than 30 guidebooks and Travel Rights, a guide to travelers' rights. His articles have appeared in scores of magazines, newspapers and online publications.

Charlie lives in New England and has skied virtually every major international resort. He is a black-diamond skier, but a double-diamond apres-skier. The rest of us bow to his energy and dancing ability. He's also the only Ski Snowboard America & Canada staffer who knows which resorts have the best wine lists and the best bacon-and-eggs breakfasts. He is a member of the North American Snowsports Journalists Association (NASJA).

Contributors to Ski Snowboard America & Canada and www.skisnowboard.com

Editor Steve Giordano is a veteran ski and travel journalist whose work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, books, radio and television. Steve is the editor of the site and the guidebooks. He used to be a ski patroller, but switched to ski journalism after pulling one too many drunks out of snowy creeks. A skier for more than 20 years, he switched to snowboarding long after reaching adulthood. He is a member of NASJA and SATW. He’s also married to Lynn Rosen, and together they make sure our Northwest entries are up to date.

Mitch Kaplan, our Eastern Editor, took up the pen to support his inexhaustible ski habit and has been covering skiing, adventure and family travel ever since. He holds the unofficial New Jersey state record for the most consecutive days spent dreaming about playing in the snow. The author of several books and a member of NASJA, SATW and ASJA, he writes a ski column for The Record, New Jersey’s second-largest daily. Mitch lives with his non-skiing wife, Penny, and two college-age children who won’t empty the nest.

Lynn Rosen, the Western Editor, an Emmy award-winning television and radio broadcaster, producer and director, is on the Journalism faculty at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash. She’s also a theater critic and travel writer. Mountain scenery is quite dramatic, so it’s fitting that Lynn belongs to the American Theater Critics Association as well as NASJA. She is one of the staff champion shoppers, an advocate for unique jewelry, shoes and clothing.

Hilary Nangle realized early in life that work didn’t have to be drudgery. Much to her parents’ dismay, she spent years working for whitewater rafting companies and ski resorts, before finally landing a real job as a journalist. She now freelances for travel and ski publications and appears as a TV travel expert. She’s a member of NASJA (and has won its Excellence in Snowsports Journalism award), and the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW). Hilary lives in Maine with her husband, Tom, a photographer.

Peggy McKay Shinn, a Westerner at heart, is now a resident Vermonter. She has skied at most major U.S. resorts, where she seeks out terrain that makes the rest of us grow weak in the knees. A NASJA member, she cast aside a graduate degree in environmental engineering to write full time. She gives us the real scoop on child-care and nursery facilities. Much to her mother’s dismay, motherhood has not slowed Peggy down.





Karen Cummings has been writing about skiing for more than a decade. She lives life, balanced between Boston and Maine, with a smile. Karen began skiing at the tender age of 25 and immediately discovered apres-ski—her specialty. These days her nightlife forays are “research.” Karen is an expert shopper and has bought something at every resort she visits. She is also our cross-country aficionado who loves a workout with skating skis.





Claudia Carbone lives in Denver in her native state of Colorado. For her, a great day is dancing through knee-deep powder. Claudia writes for many publications. Her groundbreaking book, WomenSki, established her as an authority on women’s skiing. Claudia is a founder of Snow Sports Association for Women and is the recipient of the Lowell Thomas Award from Colorado Ski Country and NASJA’s Excellence in Snowsports Journalism–Writing award. She also is past president of NASJA.






Andrew Bill has been fighting with, and losing to, his inner nomad for at least 25 years—working as a journalist on three continents. Along the way he has contributed to America’s leading travel publications. Recent exploits include becoming the 12,161st member of the Sourtoe Cocktail Club (an august, if unsavory, society based out of Dawson City in the Yukon), surviving another ski season, and picking up a Northern Lights award. As an avid, if erratic skier, he has left his mark on many a tree.

Roger Lohr, our cross-country skiing guru, lives in New Hampshire. His claim to fame: He’s traveled and been on the snow either cross-country skiing, telemarking or snowboarding in 27 different states or provinces in North America. He is editor-in-chief of our sister website, xcskiresorts.com, which provides information about where to go cross-country skiing, Top 10 lists and promotional news for cross-country ski resorts and product suppliers. He also conducts the industry statistics for the Cross Country Ski Areas Association; and writes for Ski Area Management, Nordic Network and many regional fitness and parenting magazines.

Bill Novak, our snowboarding expert, is originally from Pennsylvania. He moved to Utah in search of deep powder and big mountains. Working in the ski resort industry for most of his life has given Bill many opportunities that coincide with a seasonal lifestyle. Since the mid 90s, he has been spending the off seasons snowboarding, surfing, and globe trotting. This passion for snow and surf is what guided Bill’s career direction. He teaches and guides skiers and riders almost every day during the season. His focus for skisnowboard.com is keeping the Utah resorts up to date, covering Chile with their skiing in our summers and he comments on the snowboarding terrain, terrain parks and halfpipes at what ever resort he visits.

James Kitfield is an expert apres-skier who first met Charlie dancing in a conga line through a bar in Verbier, Switzerland. Life has been downhill since, at least as often as he can manage trips to the mountains. On the slopes he points his skis down double diamonds. Amazingly, he has a serious side. He has been awarded the Gerald R. Ford prize twice for distinguished defense reporting, and the Jesse H. Neal award for excellence in reporting.

Kari Haugeto, Aren Elliott and Christopher Elliott live in Florida, but spend all winter dreaming about powder days in the mountains. Kari writes about apres-ski and nightlife activities as the editor of Cocktail.com. Aren, age 4, specializes in researching day-care facilities at ski resorts. And Christopher, who writes about consumer travel issues for publications such as National Geographic Traveler and Forbes, covers mountain activities.

Tom Patterson spends equal time on his board, skis and skinny skis, the latter usually with daughter Ella in a baby carrier. He is a NASJA member and skis all over northern New England and Quebec. He spends his days in the exciting world of student loans, but his passion includes regular snowsports contributions to weekly and monthly publications near his home in Portland, Maine.

Vicki Andersen is a native Oregonian residing in Portland, and admits to first strapping on skis at age 2. By high school graduation she had been a regional correspondent for SKI Magazine and written a weekly newspaper ski column. After 26 years as a part-time ski instructor (PSIA-Certified), Vicki ditched teaching to allow more time to explore other mountains. She has been ski editor-Northwest Sports Report, contributing editor-Texas Skis magazine, regional editor-Pacific Skier, associate editor-Northwest Skiing and staff writer-Ski Oregon magazine, as well as producing countless articles for other publications. Vicki is a member of NASJA, SATW, and NOWA (Northwest Outdoor Writers Assn).

Vanessa Reese considers herself to be the world’s first “black-diamond virtual skier.” She works on Ski Snowboard America & Canada and Ski Europe and helped develop our website. Until a few years ago, the closest this Harvard graduate had ever come to a ski slope was Boston’s blizzard of ’78. Now she’s visited several Western resorts, taken her first halting glides on cross-country skis, and discovered snow tubing and dogsledding.

Laurie Fullerton is a full-time journalist specializing in skiing and yatching—nice combination. She has edited magazines and newspapers and authored three guidebooks covering the Canadian Maritimes, New Caledonia and the Philipines. Her byline has appeared in the South China Morning Post, New York Times, Miami Herald, Yatching Magazine, Sailing Magazine, Torronto Globe and Post and others.

Katy Keck, our gourmet consultant, is recognized as one of the Top 30 Women Chefs in The World. Scott Staples, a ski patroller and photographer, accompanies his wife Susan on her trips to assess resorts; this season he contributed to the chapters on Kicking Horse, B.C., and Big Sky, Mont. Karuna Eberl, Bob Aubrey, Gavin Forbes Ehringer, Ammon Smith, Wade Nelson, Erica Williams, Mike Stagnone and Marie Daigle Thompson wrote some of our snowboarding coverage. Diane Scholfield, the ex-editor and proof reader, has her fingerprints and commas all over this book.